Research project

Portfolio Grant - Nano Photonics

Project overview

The new field of NanoPhotonics emerges when we force light to interact with nano-structures, artificial matter engineered and arranged on the scale of only billionths of a meter. Crossing the quantum bridge between nano and photonics produces a remarkable range of new materials and phenomena. NanoPhotonics promises captivating new fundamental physics, and new mind-blowing applications in low power, ultra-small devices performing at the quantum edge in a wide range of technologies, from information processing and telecommunications, to defense, security, medicine andbiotechnologies. Our leading reputation and proven nano-innovation track record, significant critical mass of steady funding, modern infrastructure and research personnel of the highest international calibre, recently created fabrication and test facilities at ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓÆµ, together with our involvement in major European projects and considerable and increasing interest from industry justifies the perfect timing for consolidating NanoPhotonics research in ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓÆµ into a Portfolio Grant.We will focus our research in the following main directions:Nano-Photonics of the Ultra-Small: emission and absorption of light from nanoparticles and nano-structures.Nano-Photonics of the Artificial: man-made meta-materials with 'ultimate' electromagnetic properties only available in artificial structures.Nano-Photonics of the Sensitive: Nanostructures whose optical spectra change radically when a single molecule attaches, or a nanoparticle at its most critically sensitive state undergoes a structural transformation.Nano-Photonics of the Self-organised: light interacting and shaping 2D & 3D nano-structures, light-assisted self assembly and growth of nano-structures, new Nano-Materials.Nano-Photonics of Trapped Light: confining and enhancing light in the smallest possible nano-cavity dimensions, extremely-large controllable interactions between light and matter.Nano-Photonics of the Flat: Nano-patterns that twist the polarisation of light, and new physics of light trapped in flat nano-structures.Nano-Photonics of Complexity: optics of fractals & quasi-periodic structures (such as Penrose tilings).Nano-Photonics of the Quantum: Switching between discrete states of nano-matter, quantum phase transitions and quantum information processing.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Nikolay Zheludev

Professor of Physics & Astronomy
Connect with Nikolay

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

N.N. Lal, B.F. Soares, J.K. Sinha, F. Huang, S. Mahajan, P. N. Bartlett, N. C. Greenham & J. J. Baumberg, 2011, Optics Express, 19(12), 11256-11263
DOI:
Type: article
A.I. Denisyuk, G. Adamo, K.F. MacDonald, J. Edgar, M.D. Arnold, V. Myroshnychenko, J. Ford, F.J. García de Abajo & N.I. Zheludev, 2010, Nano Letters, 10(9), 3250-3252
DOI:
Type: article
K.F. MacDonald & N.I. Zheludev, 2010, Laser & Photonics Reviews, 4(4), 562-567
DOI:
Type: article
Mathias Kolle, Pedro M. Salgard-Cunha, Maik R. J. Scherer, Fumin Huang, Pete Vukusic, Sumeet Mahajan, Jeremy J. Baumberg & Ullrich Steiner, 2010, Nature Nanotechnology, 5(7), 511-515
DOI:
Type: article
G. Adamo, K.F. MacDonald, Y.H. Fu, D.P. Tsai, F.J. García de Abajo & N.I. Zheludev, 2010, Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 12(2)
DOI:
Type: article
Sumeet Mahajan, Robin M. Cole, Jonathon Speed, Suzanne H. Pelfrey, Andrea E. Russell, Philip N. Bartlett, Stephen M. Barnett & Jeremy J. Baumberg, 2009, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 114(16), 7242-7250
DOI:
Type: article
Nikolay I. Zheludev, 2009, Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 11(11)
DOI:
Type: letterEditorial